The present invention relates in general to an electronic controller for energizing electrically operated brakes in a towed vehicle and, in particular, to an electronic brake controller which is responsive to the brake actuation of the towing vehicle for supplying electric current to the towed vehicle brakes.
Towed vehicles, such as recreational and utility trailers adapted to be towed by automobiles and small trucks, are commonly provided with electric brakes. The electric brakes generally include a pair of brake shoes which, when actuated, frictionally engage a brake drum. An electromagnet is mounted on one end of a lever to actuate the brake shoes. When an electric current is applied to the electromagnet, the electromagnet is drawn against the rotating brake drum which pivots the lever to actuate the brakes. Typically, the braking force produced by the brake shoes is proportional to the electric current applied to the electromagnet. This electric current can be relatively large. For example, the electric brakes on a two wheeled trailer can draw six amperes of current when actuated and the electric brakes on a four wheeled trailer can draw 12 amperes of current.
Automotive industry standards require that electrically-actuated vehicle brakes be driven against the ground potential of the vehicle power supply. Accordingly, one end of each of the towed vehicle brake electromagnets is electrically connected to the towed vehicle ground and the towed vehicle ground is electrically connected to the towing vehicle ground. The other end of each of the brake electromagnets is electrically connected through an electric brake controller to the towing vehicle power supply.
Various electric brake controllers for towed vehicle electric brakes are known in the art. For example, a variable resistor, such as a rheostat, can be connected between the towing vehicle power supply and the brake electromagnets. The towing vehicle operator manually adjusts the variable resistor setting to vary the amount of current supplied to the brake electromagnets and thereby control the amount of braking force developed by the towed vehicle brakes.
Also known in the art are more sophisticated electric brake controllers which include electronics to automatically supply current to the brake electromagnets when the towing vehicle brakes are applied. Such electronic brake controllers typically include a sensing unit which generates a brake control signal corresponding to the desired braking effort. For example, the sensing unit can include a pendulum which is displaced from a rest position when the towing vehicle decelerates and an electronic circuit which generates a brake control signal which is proportional to the pendulum displacement. One such unit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,344. Alternately, the hydraulic pressure in the towing vehicle's braking system or the pressure applied by the driver's foot to the towing vehicle's brake pedal can be sensed to generate the brake control signal.
Known electronic brake controllers also usually include an analog pulse width modulator. The input of the pulse width modulator is electrically connected to the sensing unit and receives the brake control signal therefrom. The pulse width modulator is responsive to the brake control signal for generating an output signal comprising a fixed frequency pulse train. The pulse width modulator varies the duty cycle of the pulse train in proportion to the magnitude of the brake control signal. Thus, the duty cycle of the pulse train corresponds to the amount of braking effort desired.
Electronic brake controllers further include an output stage which is electrically connected to the output of the pulse width modulator. The output stage typically has one or more power transistors which are connected between the towing vehicle power supply and the towed vehicle brake electromagnets. The power transistors function as an electronic switch for supplying electric current to the towed vehicle brakes.
The output stage is responsive to the pulse width modulator output signal to switch the power transistors between conducting, or "on", and non-conducting, or "off", states. As the output transistors are switched between their on and off states in response to the modulator output signal, the brake current is divided into a series of pulses. The power supplied to the towed vehicle brakes and the resulting level of brake application are directly proportional to the duty cycle of the modulator generated output signal.